Proceed With Caution
by Sir and Sky
Summary: When faced with the problems of the past, sometimes it seems less scary when we use superficial things to separate us from reality. Music is his only escape from himself, but he can never escape from her. [NaLu] [Rated T for violence and blood later on]
1. Intro: Wall of Music

The time between Natsu stepping on stage and the spotlights turning on felt miniscule. Nonexistent. And now, as they glared down on him like a couple of suns, he felt small, terrified, and like he needed more _time_. He just wasn't ready for this.

It was even more interesting to him that the judges were two females, both beauties in every sense of the word, but both oddly scary.

He felt sweat drip from his forehead, over the scar in his cheek, and down his neck. Doing this was a big leap from his comfort zone, because ever since he was 5 he knew attention meant trouble. To be seen was to be dead.

Natsu barely heard the call of 'You may play now', not even realizing Gray had answered all the questions for him. Another swallow from the pink haired teen, and he brushed his bangs out of his eyes, nodding at Gray.

 _1_

 _2_

 _3_

And the music had started, Natsu still holding his mic in a death grip like it had wronged him personally. Whenever he sang or preformed for anyone it was only his closest friends there watching. His rough childhood had given him an indefinite fear of people watching him, and it was only through his adopted fathers push that he agreed to audition in the first place.

But next thing he knew, he had opened his mouth, and he was singing with all the passion he had whenever he sang or played music alone. His throat growing sore from how much of his heart he put into it.

This was it. This shabby environment, this loud music, this deep passion that rang within his heart. It was all he had been craving, like the equivalent of screaming into a pillow.

The burn of the lights began to fell less like forever burning fires, but a warm blanket, like a safety net, and Natsu somehow felt he would always be safe on this stage. Where he could play his music, where everyone could see his heart, but no one could ever touch him.

This was where he wanted to be, forever separated by everyone else. He didn't want anyone getting close to him ever again.


	2. Meeting the Punk

_"See you next time, Lucy!"_

 _"Yeah, bye Yukino!"_

The two light haired girls got in their cars, as they started leaving the gym. Lucy tossed her duffel bag in the passenger's seat, and turned on some Enya music to soothe her, as she always did after yoga.

Life was routine for her, and she liked it that way. Wednesday's was yoga with Yukino, Friday's was coffee with the girls, Monday's was jogging for 15 minutes, and all her other free time was devoted to school, study, and books.

Lucy was jolted out of her thoughts as the music in her car stopped, replaced by the obnoxious ringing of a phone, which was a result from the blonde connected her cell to the car via Bluetooth.

She checked the caller ID, which read "Mirajane Strauss". Lucy leaned over to answer, and instantly had her ears assaulted by loud rock music, which reminded Lucy that her platinum-blonde friend worked in a punk rock bar; Fairy Tail.

"Hello, Mira" Lucy said, exasperatedly, which earned her a giggled in response. Mira knew she hated this kind of music.

"Hello, Lucy, I just wanted to ask if you could stop by Fairy Tail and help me with customers? We've had a boom in business sense we hired these new singers" Mira asked in that sickly-sweet voice of hers.

Ah, yes, the new singers. Lucy had heard much of them from Erza and Mira the past few weeks, or had it been months? Apparently the group of teens preforming had shown more talent than their last few performers combined. And according to Mira, they were also a "couple a hotties".

Lucy sighed dramatically "When do you need me?" she asked

"In about… 30 minutes?"

This was way too unexpected for Lucy's tastes.

Mira was lucky Lucy loved her.

* * *

The bar wasn't anything Lucy hadn't seen before. It was old, falling apart, and was filled with middle-aged drunk people, and usually people would be hitting on her by now, but since she had started working out and wearing sports bras more, it didn't give people much to look at, so she eventually wore them everywhere.

She weaved her way around the randomly placed tables to make her way towards the counter, where Mira was cleaning a mug and Erza was harassing Cana for sitting on the counter while she drank her sorrows away.

Lucy squeezed by Erza and took off her training jacket, to hang on the coat rack in the corner, which she replaced for the signature Fairy Tail apron.

"Yo, Lucy, how's it hangin'?" A slurred voice came from a certain brunette, who nodded slightly in the blonde's directed.

Lucy nodded back with a sweet smile, before noticing the lack of music that made her ears bleed. She turned to Mira curiously, brows raised "I thought this was a 'death bar' or whatever?" She asked, to which Mira smiled sweetly.

"It's a 'punk rock bar', and Natsu needs to rest his vocal chords SOME times" the older woman chided and handed Cana another beer.

"That lil' dude needs to release an album" Cana said, raising the bottle to her lips "I would listen the HECK outta that"

Mira looked at the drunken girl sternly "Cana, he is an 18-year-old boy, still in high school, so please don't sexualize them"

Lucy had gone on to deliver drinks to tables while Cana and Mira argued, before Erza got in the middle of it, pondering on what the girls had said. She had to admit that Natsu was a lovely name, and she found it quite odd, seeing as most punks you meet have much rougher names.

The name 'Natsu' was much sweeter and warmer, probably from the implications of the season as well. She also briefly thought how he was but a year older than her. What was a minor doing singing publically at a run-down bar like this?

She heard chattering from the other side of the bar, and looked up to see what the commotion was about, and stopped in her tracks as she wound up looking straight into a pair on onyx eyes, which reflected every other color perfectly, and gleamed with a dangerous light.

When had she gotten so close to the stage? And why was he looking at her so strangely? And why was his hair pink?

"Um, are you preforming too?" He asked with a sarcastic grin, revealing sharp canines, which made her gulp.

Lucy then realized she was practically leaning over onto the stage, and flushed bright red. She had never lost her composure like that before!

"You wish!" was all she could manage, before storming off across the bar again.

She ignored the giggles of the girls, and angrily set dirty mugs in the sink, as music started to fill the bar. The blonde raised her head as she saw the pink haired guy start singing-he must be Natsu-but something about the way his voice sounded, resonating off the walls of the small room, the way his eyes were closed tightly as he belted out lyrics to whichever song he was singing.

She had been to live performances before, but something about the way he put himself into the lyrics tugged at her heart. Everything about him seemed so… New… But also familiar.

Lucy was pissing herself off with how confusing this all was, and chose to ignore the uneasy emotions that this person seemed to make swirl in the pit of her stomach.

"I haven't heard this one before, is it new?" Mira suddenly asked Erza, who was chastising Macao and Wakaba for eyeing up girls.

The fiery redhead turned to Natsu at this, half his face currently covered by his pink hair. "I think this is a new one?" she answered uncertainly, hands on her hips "He doesn't tell me much about his personal life, honestly"

Lucy glanced over at the two older women "He writes his own music?" she asked curiously

"Yes, he even writes the sheet music for the other instruments as well!" Mira boasted, probably proud of herself for hiring someone good this time.

"But on the downside, he doesn't really like talking with us that much, unless it's about his schedule or something" Erza added with a curt nod "But he does bring in a lot of business"

Lucy stared at the boy named Natsu more closely this time, and began drinking in his features. She, for one, noticed he was fairly tanned, and had a great physique. He seemed to have multiple piercings on the one ear she could see and some eyebrow piercings over his right eye.

His haircut seemed like a typical punk hairstyle, with the right side of his head shaved and the left part messy and slightly spiky, covering that side of his face.

But what had stood out most to Lucy was the scars. Two big ones, one on his right cheek and the other on the right side of his neck, and multiple smaller ones along his arms. And if she knew anything it was that every scar held a story, and a frightening past.

* * *

Lucy glared from inside her car. Leave it to Mira to suddenly need help every day of the week as soon as she saw Lucy staring at their star singer for about 5 minutes. Damn Lucy and her spacey head.

Reluctantly, she stepped out of her vehicle, and made her way into the bar. Since it was earlier, there weren't many people there, and Erza and Mira were just setting up chairs, but there was no sign of Natsu.

She could still perfectly see him standing on the makeshift stage, lights shining down on him as he sang with more passion than anyone else she had heard. The thought of it made her heart race as she shakily worked on setting up the kegs.

"Lucy, can you-" Erza started, but Lucy cut her off immediately in her nervousness

"NO I WASN'T, YOU DON'T HAVE PROOF!" She yelled, face flushed red as she slammed a mug down onto the counter.

Erza blinked in surprise, her gaze showing confusion as to what on earth the blonde was shouting about.

"Are you feeling ok…? You're shaking" She pointed out

"I-I'm fine!" Lucy snapped, grabbing a rag and storming off, trying her best to avoid staring at the stage as she wiped off tables.

Even as costumers poured in, Lucy couldn't calm her nerves. She jumped and stuttered at every comment, and flushed whenever someone spoke Natsu's name, and she felt like slapping herself silly for being so susceptible to… these _feelings_.

"Excuse me- "There was another one, Lucy thought, but she nearly jumped out of her skin as a hand grabbed her shoulder, and she spun around instantly and her hand cracked across the face of her pursuer, but she felt the color drain from her face as she saw who it was.

"N-Natsu…!" She squeaked, shrinking back. How much of an idiot was she?! With arms like that he could break her in half!

She stared at him, searching for some kind of emotion, but he only expressed shock in his widened eyes, or eye, at least, as the other eye was covered by his messy bangs.

"That was… unexpected… I know I look a bit scary but maybe that was an over-reaction?" he mused, a smirk playing on his lips.

Lucy gaped "I-It was an accident I swear! O-Oh god you aren't mad? I-I've just been stressed and y-you startled me! I just kinda reacted and..!" she paused as she saw him start to bubble up with laughter "STOP LAUGHING AT ME DAMNIT!"

"I'm surprised you knew my name actually!" he pointed out, impressed

Lucy blushed a bit, realizing it must have been a tad weird "W-Well Mira talks about you, so does Cana…"

"Oh yeah! I was gonna ask you where Mira was!" he started, hitting his fist in his palm lightly

"Out back, taking out the garbage…" Lucy mumbled, and with that Natsu breezed past her, patting her shoulder as he went, and disappeared out back.

Lucy sank into a chair, groaning "Just peachy… Mira will never let me live that down…"

"Neither will I!" Came the voice of the brunette at the bar, waving, and spilling, her mug of beer as she did so.

"NOT HELPING!" Lucy yelled back, standing up with a huff, as she went to go clean up the mess Cana was making in her drunken stupor, which only angered the blonde more.

"I hope I never have to see him again…" she muttered under her breath, cleaning up the liquor, but with her luck, the exact opposite would happen.

* * *

"I heard you got a boyfriend Lu-chan!" Was Levy's decided first words as her taller friend approached the school campus.

The girl in question instantly scowling in distaste at that "I do not! Who on earth told you that?!" she snapped, which only egged on the small blue-haired girl

"Mira, Cana, Erza, Jet, Droy, Macao, Lisanna…" Levy started, glancing at Lucy with a small grin as the blonde fumed, her cheeks stained red. But as she opened her mouth to continue, she gasped, and quickly dragged Lucy around the corner.

"Levy?! What's wrong?!" Lucy cried, rubbing her arm as it was nearly disjointed "What's gotten into you?!"

Levy shushed her and pointed at someone in the courtyard, a guy, with long messy black hair and a bunch of piercings. "Th-That guy…!" she started "He knocked my books out of my hands today! And then continued to tease me and call me things like 'shrimp'!" the little girl fumed

"Who is he…?" Lucy asked, squinting at him, feeling for sure that she had seen him somewhere before

"Gajeel Redfox, a transfer student who's in MY class...!" Levy complained, slapping her palm into her forehead in frustration "This last year is gonna be a pain in my rump, I know it!"

Lucy inwardly laughed at Levy's refusal to curse "I'm sure he'll warm up to you!" she encouraged, throwing her arm around her

"But it gets worse! He has a posse too!" Levy retorted, waving her arms frantically in the man's direction again, but Lucy nearly fainted at she saw the guys who had joined her.

Another guy with short, jet black hair and stormy gray eyes. An older man, with dark blue hair, and a wicked face tattoo. And last, and most horrifyingly, a boy who was at least 6 inches shorter than all the other guys, who had cherry pink hair, which was long and messy on one side, so it covered his left eye, and buzzed short on the other side, revealing the many earrings he had in his ears.

It was Natsu freakin' Dragneel.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Lucy shrieked, startling Levy, who jumped back, eyes wide. But that wasn't the only person she startled.

Her shriek was heard by the young man in question, and swiftly, he turned, looking her right in the eye, his obsidian eyes carving a hole in her with how intense his stare was.

Natsu's eyes gleamed dangerously, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk before her turned back to the group of guys, entering himself in the conversation again.

Lucy promptly turned, huffing in anger "If he's in my class, I'm strangling him." She growled out, Levy practically jogging to keep up, which was harder as she was also laughing at the same time.

"Was that the guy?" Levy asked, breathlessly, as she wasn't very physically inclined, so jogging and laughing took it out of her.

"It-It's...!" Lucy stammered, fighting the blush on her cheeks "Maybe!" she finally spat out.

"'Maybe'?" Levy teased "I think you mean 'obviously'! He looked at you like you had some amazing inside joke and everything!"

Lucy groaned at her friend's over-enthusiasm for the, apparently, wrong things. She hefted her school bag over her shoulder as she turned a corner "Well, I need to get to class, so I'll see you later, Levy!" she said, glad to be leaving the conversation, hopefully for it to never be brought up again.

She stilled at a similar call behind her; "Yeah, I'll meet you in the courtyard for lunch" a vastly familiar voice said, and low and behold, Natsu Dragneel strode past her, walking right into her class.

"Well… Screw my life…" Lucy grumbled, following after him angrily.

Levy would never let her hear the end of this.


	3. Let Sleeping Dragons Lie

**A/N: Finished on time, yay! :D Anyway, this is my way of saying happy birthday to our (probably) biggest fan bloodychuu on Tumblr! (Thanks for yelling at me to write this; I managed it in four days ouo) Happy birthday, Jules; I hope this chapter is to your liking!**

 **\- Sky**

* * *

Getting punched in the face by a flustered waitress probably didn't sound like the best way to start off the day on paper, but Natsu figured that it could've been way worse.

When he entered the Fairy Tail bar, it was just starting to get crowded—people were already noisily talking amongst themselves while slamming beer kegs together and yelling at the harried waitresses for more servings. The women were beside themselves as they rushed around trying to accommodate their customers.

He scanned the bustling mass of people, but he couldn't spot the silver-haired owner. He sighed to himself in exasperation. Looked like he would have to ask one of the waitresses of her whereabouts.

Natsu looked over the crowd again and spotted the flustered blonde that he'd teased yesterday—she appeared to be distracted as she was clearing off a table and handing kegs and plates over to the cherry-haired lady that was manning the counter in Mirajane's place. He watched as she set the ware down and moved on to another guest. She seemed particularly jumpy today, constantly flinching and checking behind her back, her face burning pink the entire while—almost as pink as his hair, which was pretty pink to start with.

With how twitchy she was acting, she probably wasn't the best person to surprise and ask because she'd probably scream and yell at him again, but he didn't want to bother wading through the crowd to get to the counter (plus the lady behind it was more intimidating than he was willing to admit to anyone), so he strode over to the blonde while her back was turned to him.

"Excuse me?" he called over the noise as he reached out to catch her attention—almost immediately he could see her stiffen in place. It was already too late to stop his hand from clapping her shoulder—which, in retrospect, had been a pretty stupid move to make against an edgy waitress—and Natsu found himself reeling backward hardly a fraction of a second later after a fist suddenly slugged him across the face.

…Well. He hadn't been expecting that.

Once he'd managed to regain his bearing and cradle his cheek, he saw that the blonde's face had blanched into a sheet-white complexion—she looked completely mortified at what she'd just done, a dash of the old _Oh God he's going to kill me for that, isn't he; he's probably pissed!_ light glinting in her brown eyes. It seemed to take her a moment to realize that she was still brandishing her fist before she hurriedly lowered it.

"N-Natsu!" she squeaked in panic, shrinking back almost immediately.

He just stared at her for a moment without responding, silently rubbing his now-stinging cheek and trying to get a hold of what had just happened.

This slim blonde waitress had just punched him in the face. It had been a pretty solid hit, too—even he was going to feel that for a while.

Not only that, she had even called him by name. He was surprised that anyone would remember it after one meeting—especially after a first impression like the one the two of them had gotten of each other the other day.

"That was…unexpected," he said at last, straightening up properly. He found himself grinning at this turn of events. "I know I look a bit scary, but maybe that was an overreaction?"

Natsu saw her jaw drop in shock at his response before she frantically tried to formulate what seemed to be an apology—but her antics were just getting more and more entertaining by the word, and he found it difficult to take her seriously.

"It—it was an accident; I swear!" she said wildly as she kept on searching for the right words to say. "O-oh God; aren't you mad? I—I've just been stressed, and—y-you startled me! I just kinda reacted, and—!"

It was at this point that his laughter finally broke out—he simply couldn't hold it in any longer. She'd been acting so rattled and nervous in front of him that he couldn't believe he'd managed to hold out this long without dissolving into a fit of chuckles. He probably should've felt bad, but he couldn't really find the remorse to feel even as she gathered herself enough to yell at him again.

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME; DAMN IT!" she snapped at him, her face burning bright pink a second time.

He tried—honest to God; he tried really hard to stop—but it was really difficult to keep from exploding into a fit of laughter again. It took him a moment, but he managed to stifle his laughter just barely enough to answer her properly.

"I'm surprised you knew my name, actually!" he answered easily, doing his best to sound impressed. Okay, well; that wasn't the reason he'd been laughing at her, but it was still the truth (kind of). He just wanted her to calm down a little at this point; he didn't really want her to try and punch him again.

This (thankfully) made her back off and blush ever more fiercely. "W-well, Mira talks about you, and so does Cana…" she stammered.

Natsu blinked, realizing that he'd completely forgotten why he'd called out to her to begin with.

"Oh, yeah!" he remarked aloud, lightly pounding his fist into his palm in exclamation. "I was gonna ask you where Mira was!"

He couldn't believe it—he'd lost himself for a moment there in the antics of the blonde. Awkwardness was apparently a source of hilarity that he hadn't been aware of before.

"Out back, taking out the garbage," she mumbled in reply as she averted her gaze.

Natsu felt a mild twinge of annoyance at the answer—damn; he could've gone out back this entire time instead of wasting what precious amount of it he had. He probably would've gone out there to look on his own if he hadn't been too lazy to search more actively.

He brushed by the waitress at her answer to keep her from seeing his reaction, clapping on the shoulder again in the same motion in a gesture of thanks before he strode off to the back of the bar.

* * *

Natsu found Mirajane tossing several sizeable garbage bags into a dumpster in the alleyway behind the bar.

Good lord; the ladies of this bar were really something else.

She caught sight of him before he could call out to catch her attention.

"Oh, hello, Natsu!" she greeted him easily, striding up to him with a friendly smile. "What brings you back here?" She blinked once. "And what happened to your face? Did you get in a fight?"

"Hey, I was looking for you," he greeted as he met her halfway. "Ah, and this is nothing—it was just one of your waitresses."

"It was Lucy, wasn't it?"

Natsu blinked. "Well…if you're talking about the blonde one, then yeah." Natsu was inwardly surprised at how quickly Mirajane had jumped to that conclusion. It made him wonder if that was a regular thing.

She giggled. "Yeah, that's our Lucy. She tends to get that way when she's stressed."

"She must be stressed pretty often, then." He shook his head once. "Anyway, the reason I was looking for you—sorry to bring this up out of nowhere, but I need to talk about my schedule."

Mirajane's vibrant blue eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, is something wrong with it?" she asked concernedly.

Natsu waved it away. "Nah, nothing like that; it's just…" He then scratched the back of his head and sighed. "I sort of need some time off. Think you can book another act on short notice? Something came up, and I can't really ignore it."

Mirajane crossed her arms and frowned in disappointment before raising a hand and rubbing her chin lightly in worry. "Oh, that is a problem…something unavoidable came your way, huh?"

"…Pretty much, yeah," he muttered as he lowered his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. "It's a pain in the ass, but nothing new."

Mirajane sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, it can't be helped, I suppose. I guess I can pull a few strings and see what I can do." She tilted her head slightly. "When do you think you'll be available next?"

Natsu tapped his chin several times in musing before answering, "I don't think it'll take up _too_ much time…I should be able to get back to the regular gig routine tomorrow without any problem, barring any surprises."

He just had to hope for the best, because God forbid if anything actually went _wrong_ …

"Ah, all right then. I'll just let everyone in the bar know." The bartender then smiled amusedly. "If you really were hit by serious business, you could've just called in, you know. You didn't have to come all this way."

Natsu chuckled. "Where's the etiquette in that? I'm not stupid enough to screw around with my employer."

Mirajane giggled lightly at the comment. "Well, aren't you quite the gentleman," she teased.

"Pfft, nah. I'm just not a dumbass." He smiled in gratitude. "In any case, thanks for the time off, Mira. I owe you one."

"Oh, no worries! I understand that life can get in the way sometimes." _Yeah, no shit_ , Natsu thought to himself, _and it loves trying to take a chunk out of my ass every chance it gets._ "Hope everything gets sorted out without much trouble."

"Well, Lady Luck usually has it out for me, but we'll see." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and moved to turned around. "Should probably jet now; people are expecting me. See ya later."

Natsu then whirled around and quickly strode away around the back before she could respond, cursing his luck all the while.

Because he hadn't expected his past to come back and stalk him after this long.

* * *

Natsu spent nearly fifteen minutes searching for the right spot.

It wasn't that he had trouble locating the correct location—he just had a hard time finding a remote-enough spot to avoid attracting too much attention, which was because he knew confrontation was inevitable.

He was being followed.

Natsu huffed in annoyance. "Fuckin' hell; what do those asses even want…?" he muttered to himself, looking around as discreetly as possible. If a confrontation was inevitable, he at least wanted it to be a private one.

After some more minutes of searching fruitlessly, he at last located what appeared to be a small abandoned lot could have neatly fit two typical garages side by side, surrounded by low brick buildings on three sides. The remaining side was a seven-foot-high concrete wall separating the lot from the shopping plaza beside it, and the entrance itself was relatively out of the way for any possible passersby. Other than a rusted brown pickup truck in the far left corner and himself, the lot was empty.

Natsu finally paused and exhaled heavily. This was probably good enough.

"Okay, the hell do you guys want?" he finally called out impatiently, letting his words echo over the empty space. "We're alone; we can talk now."

He then turned around to meet his pursuers face to face. Four figures—three lean men and one young woman—emerged from the lone entrance and approached him unflinchingly.

Natsu clicked his tongue at the familiar faces.

"Heh…well, if it isn't the Oracion Seis," he noted as he watched them surround him, his lips twitching up into a mocking smile. " _What_ a surprise this is. Mind telling me the occasion?"

"Even after all this time, you still haven't lost the attitude," the skinniest of the three men remarked.

"Yeah, I can keep myself together just fine." He raised an eyebrow at the man's odd apparel—combination of a red tracksuit, running shoes, and sharp blue goggles. "And what d'you know; you still got a horrible fashion sense, Racer, ol' buddy." His gaze then flickered to his hairdo and whistled. "Nice mohawk, though. You even dyed it. Piss-yellow suits you."

"We didn't come here for you to be a judge on our fashion choice, Dragneel," the woman cut in haughtily, flicking her long steel-blue hair behind her shoulders and placing a white-gloved hand on her hip. Her sky-blue one-piece flared slightly with the movement. "I'm sure you know what our business with you is."

"I was hoping you would remind me, see, because I really couldn't guess." He flashed a casual thumbs-up toward her. "And straight to business as usual, huh, Angel? I always liked that about you." He glanced down at her knee-high navy blue boots. "While we're on the subject, though, I'll say that your fashion sense definitely got better. Nice heels."

"You're just drawing out the inevitable." Natsu glanced over to his left to the one who had spoken—a short, black-and-white-haired young man, the youngest of the quartet and around several years older than Natsu himself. "You know why we're here. We're here to collect our dues."

Natsu scoffed. "What 'dues'? I don't remember owing anything at all to you four…" He trailed off, recounting the members in front of him. "Wait, just four of you? What happened to Hoteye?"

None of them answered, which gave Natsu a pretty clear hint.

"Ah, I see what's happened," he chuckled. "So he finally bailed, huh? Good on him; he's at least got more smarts than the rest of you."

"Think we're gonna have to give him and his ego a wake-up call, Midnight," the man behind Natsu drawled in glee. "Because he _clearly_ doesn't remember making off with our share and killing Brain for _shits and giggles_." His last few words dissolved into a guttural snarl, practically a hiss.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Hang on a second…you're _still_ hung up on that?" he asked, his tone tinged in disbelief. "That was, like, _years_ ago. You've been wasting the past several years trying to get revenge on me for killing that pile of literal dog shit?"

"Pile of dog shit or not; that fucker practically _raised_ us when we had no one!" the man growled in fury. "And you _murdered_ him—for no fucking reason!"

Natsu sighed. "Okay, look; I didn't kill him 'for shits and giggles'," he said, making exaggerated air quotes. "He violated the treaty we had in place, so I killed him as punishment, which was _part of the deal_ , if you remember. Violation of the treaty meant consequences for the guilty party." He shrugged and then crossed his arms, shaking his head with an exasperated sigh. "So I'd _really_ appreciate it if you could grow a pair, accept your loss, and beat it. I had to cancel today's gig because of you morons, so you already got your 'dues'."

The one behind apparently lost his patience, because Natsu heard him roar in fury and rush at him—but he saw it coming. He sidestepped the lunge and snatched his assailant's wrist in an iron grip. Natsu savored the shocked expression on the man's scarred face for a moment before sharply elbowing the man in the gut and using the momentum to judo flip him onto his back. The man, now pinned down by Natsu's elbow, choked as the pressure against his abdomen cut off his air.

Natsu simply grinned before rising to his feet and plucking the switchblade out of the man's trembling hands. "I'll be taking that," he said casually, flicking the knife closed. "Brush up on your moves a bit more and maybe you'll last longer than ten seconds next time, Cobra."

"…The fuck…?!" Cobra gasped from his spot on the ground. "How…?!"

"Ah, hang on a sec; Racer wants a go." Natsu whirled around and ducked as the man in question swung a baseball bat in the space where Natsu's head had been only moments earlier.

"Strike one!" Natsu called from his spot below the man, unable to stop the smirk from spreading across his face.

"Rgh—!" Racer swung his weapon downward, but Natsu quickly rolled off to the side and flashed a peace sign while quipping a playful, "Strike two!" before knocking the man off of his feet with a sweeping kick to his ankles in the short window of time borne from his split-second hesitation.

"And…!" Natsu caught Racer below the ribs with a raised fist as the man fell forward. "…Strike three!"

Racer gagged as Natsu lightly tossed his limp body to the side and straightened up, leaving him groaning in pain on the rough asphalt.

"…And you're out," he finished with a smirk. "Thanks for playing."

He exhaled sharply before he turned to the remaining two members, who were standing stock still and staring at the scene in shock. Maybe Natsu had been moving around a bit during the scuffles, but they seemed to be farther away from him than before.

"Are we done here?" he asked, dusting off his hands. "I really have to prepare for tomorrow's show, and you're wasting my time."

"Don't you dare mock us!" Angel whipped out a pistol from seemingly out of nowhere and fired at him in one quick movement—not that Natsu couldn't see that coming, either. He flicked open the Swiss army knife in front of his face and deflected the bullet before it could make contact.

Angel's jaw dropped. "Wh—wha—?!"

"Whoa, that was a close one," Natsu whistled appreciatively, admiring the scratched but otherwise unmarred blade, before clicking it closed. "Dunno what this thing's made of, but I'm gonna be keeping this." He pocketed the weapon then raised his gaze at the woman—her face was sheet-white.

"There's…no way…how'd you even—?!"

"You were always a good shot, but there's a downside to turning the gun against your former employer." Natsu tapped the space between his eyes. "He knows that this is always where you aim for first—right between the eyes. Usually a decisive shot, but you miscalculated this time." He lowered his hand, his smirk growing more pronounced. "That was the only bullet you had, wasn't it?"

Angel backed away, her jaw gritted in clear frustration. "You—!"

"So where were we?" Natsu turned to Midnight, whose shadowed eyes were glinting in apprehension. "I hope this meeting sends a message to you guys, hm? If you're gonna plan on getting revenge on me, at least prepare properly, and don't mess with my schedule—I just might be the one looking for revenge the next time."

Midnight backed away with a smirk of his own (even in spite of the sweat running down his pale face). "I highly doubt it. We know you haven't killed anyone since—"

Natsu didn't give him a chance to finish—he swiftly pulled out his new weapon and flicked it open before lunging for the thug, catching him up in a chokehold and slamming him right against the wall behind him, and he pressed the blade against his jugular before he could get another word out.

"Midnight!" Angel cried out in a panic.

Natsu ignored her.

"Don't even _think_ about testing me, you little shit," he hissed under his breath, his words dripping with venom. "You seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with here. I can still damn well remember what it feels like to kill a man"—he pressed the blade deeper into his neck, deep enough to draw blood—"so trust me when I say that I'm gonna make you regret having faced me today the _second_ you wear out my patience. _Are we clear?_ "

Midnight didn't answer him, still struggling to breathe through Natsu's chokehold and staring at him with terror.

"…Looks like we understand each other." Natsu backed away, pulling away the knife and releasing his hold and letting the thug drop to the ground and clutch his throat while gasping for air. "Now clean yourselves up and get the fuck out of here. I'm out."

Natsu didn't even spare a glance at the battered gang as he strode off toward the lot's exit, groaning inwardly to himself as he imagined the earful Igneel would give him once he got wind of this encounter. He'd be grounded for ages, and he'd have to cancel even more gigs.

…Piss.

Then again…Igneel technically didn't _need_ to find out about it. He could just take his sweet time getting home.

Yeah, that was what he would do.

* * *

 **Later that night**

" _WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN ALL NIGHT, YOU LITTLE PUNK?! THINK YOU CAN JUST WANDER OFF AND DO WHATEVER YA PLEASE, HUH? YOU'RE GROUNDED FOR A WEEK, YA PISS ANT!"_

" _THE HELL, DAD?! YOU NEVER LET ME HAVE ANY FUN ANYWAY GODDAMN IT!"_


	4. A Day Of Beginnings

**OK So as much as I wanted to post this as soon as I finished Sky made me wait T3T But either way, here it is! Enjoy the ride while it's pleasant, kiddos! (I have no idea how old you are)**

 **-Sir**

* * *

There was no other way to put it; Natsu was having a shitty day. He woke up to his dad chewing his head off because he somehow found out about his little run-in with his 'old friends' yesterday.

Or, to be specific, the cops did. Thankfully, they had no clue it was Natsu, but it was all over the news, and as Natsu trekked down the stairs that morning, Igneel knew it was him.

Typical.

So now he was grounded for the whole bloody month, and wasn't allowed to go anywhere without supervision, unless it was school and back. Heck, he wouldn't even let him do his job at Fairy Tail, which, mind you, is the one Igneel wanted him to get in the first place!

Then aside from the motion sickness he got from Jellal's fucking death machine, also known as a car, Gray and Gajeel decided now was the time to pester him about the blonde waitress who had decked him straight in the face.

By the time the group arrived at their new school, Natsu was emitting an aura of doom.

The high school itself wasn't too shabby, as it actually looked, believe it or not, quite fancy. It gave him butterflies in his stomach at the sight of all these nice, clean looking people. Certainly not what Natsu was used to.

While their entire group was fairly out of place, Natsu stuck out like a sore thumb, and he could feel the disapproving stares of his peers the second he got out (more like fell out) of the car.

"Pyro, hurry up!" A shout from Gray snapped Natsu out of his shocked stare, and turned to see Gajeel already walking off, while Jellal accepted pamphlets from a young pink-haired girl.

Natsu shook his head, and ran after Gajeel with Gray, shouting "Geez, I'm coming!" after them.

The group of four wandered aimlessly, trying to figure out their schedules. Natsu had managed to figure out where at least half of his classes were before stating "School is stupid." and promptly tore his schedule to shreds.

Jellal sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, looking down at him sternly. "Natsu, I get you're not... Used to this" He said that last part delicately, but while Natsu knew he was being careful with his words, he couldn't help but shoot the taller male a sharp glare. "But this is the first step to normalcy. You can't hole yourself up and play music all day!" the blue-haired male reasoned.

Natsu wasn't feeling very receptive today, do to this mornings utter bullshit, and simply scoffed, turning on his heel "Seemed to work just fine before." he snapped, walking away "I'm gonna grab a drink" He decided firmly, but felt his blood boil more as Gray and Jellal instantly followed him.

"Jellal is right! You really can't get away with being a dumb ass forever you know." Gray interjected, earning a smack upside the head from the other man in question.

"Oh no," Natsu said sarcastically "Now what will I do? I was planning to make a professional career out it!"

Jellal laughed, for once, while Natsu could feel Gray's icy glare on the back of his head as Natsu put some coins in a drink machine as he bought a Dr. Pepper, and twisted the cap off, smiling at the hiss of carbonation leaving the bottle. That sound was always so satisfying.

In no time they were back with Gajeel, but Gray frowned as they saw his eyes shift around nervously and, was Gajeel _blushing_?

Natsu grinned at the sight, as the opportunity for revenge presented itself. And boy was Natsu gonna make Gajeel regret he ever saw that chickie punch him.

He whistled lowly, putting an arm on Gajeel's shoulder "Man, Gajeel... Are you feeling ok?" he asked, and Gray met his eyes, grinning at what his was doing, and leaning on Gajeel's other shoulder.

"Your face is, uh, lookin' a bit red there buddy" Gray added, and the glare Gajeel gave them meant they were doing something right.

Jellal being the buzz kill he is, shoved Natsu and Gray off Gajeel "Leave him alone, guys! We won't hassle him for having a crush, it may kill his heart for good" He said sternly, unintentionally helping their cause.

"Hey!" Gajeel barked, while Natsu was almost falling over from laughing, along with Gray.

By the time they had finally calmed down, the group was startled by a yell from the courtyard;

 _"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"_

Natsu instantly turned to the direction of the voice, and his eyes widened at the source of the yell. The blonde waitress (Luigi, was it?) was standing there, looking back with equal shock.

He felt like he suddenly jumped into a shitty chick flick where time seems to slow down as the guy and girl would look at each other. In any other situation, he would've looked away without a second thought, but for some reason, seeing the look of sheer panic ingrained into her features, made his mouth turn up into a humored smirk.

Maybe today wouldn't be so shitty after all.

* * *

Natsu was proven horribly wrong. Despite being mildly humored by the girl's reaction every time they were in the same vicinity, everything else about this day still sucked major ass.

Like really, were all schools this pretentious? He couldn't walk literally two feet without hearing some more ridiculous gossip about him. So by the time lunch rolled around, he was rumored to have;

-Killed 30 people

-Would deck you in the face if you tried talking to him

-Was like a real-life Medusa, except instead of turning you to stone, he would kill you

-Had been arrested 5 times

-And was a runaway criminal/psychopath

While some of those had held some truth at some point, it didn't mean it wasn't infuriating. He knew he had agreed to meet with Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal for lunch, but as much as he hated to admit it, it hurt constantly hearing things like that when he was still trying his best to repay Igneel, no matter how aggravating he was.

He decided he just needed a place to sit down and be alone, to cool off. So while while everyone headed to the lunch room, and the courtyard, and wherever else they went to eat, Natsu just wandered around the halls glaring at his shoes as if they wronged him personally.

Idly, he checked his phone to see how much time he had for lunch, but stopped as he passed the music room.

Natsu backed up about three steps to look in the window of the room, the only light supplied in it was of that streaking in through the window. Natsu felt his heart seize up and mouth water as he spotted the elegant instrument in the middle of said room.

It had been years since Natsu played on a grand piano. He only had his electric keyboard in his room, but something about the feel of real ivory under his fingertips gave him chills. It was like a drug, a soothing one that had always calmed his nerves, even since he was little.

Casting wary glances down the hall, he quietly entered the room, and moved swiftly to the piano, sitting in front of it. He smiled as his fingers landed delicately on the white keys.

Surely no one would hear if he just played during a free period...right?

* * *

Natsu had proved to be very...confusing.

The entire day when he wasn't glaring at everyone, he would stare at the wall and pout like a scolded child, making her wonder, what exactly happened to him?

But any curiosity was replaced by unhinged agitation, because she couldn't keep her face from flushing bright red whenever their eyes met, and he knew it pissed her off. Otherwise he wouldn't be damn laughing at her. All. The. Time.

Another interesting thing about him is how quickly the school had managed to make up fifty different rumors about him. The idea of him being a murderer didn't feel quite right to her. And the most disturbing one to her; "I hear he's the one behind the attack this morning"

Lucy shivered as she walked past her fellow classmates. She had certainly seen the news report of a group of four being attacked mysteriously, and their bodies being hidden in a back alley, but the idea of Natsu doing it... While he pissed her off, he didn't seem like the type.

She saw Natsu didn't appreciate the publicity either, and whenever he overheard another rumor, his bad mood seemed to worsen. Lucy couldn't blame him either, as it was a reasonable response to becoming the next emotional hacky sack of the school.

So by the time Lunch rolled around, Lucy had a million questions, and Levy was the only one nearby to listen, unfortunately enough for her.

"But why would people say he's a murderer?"

"I don't know, Lu-chan."

"And if he is guilty then why did he look so upset?!"

"Gee, I wonder."

" _Oooor_ that's a sign he is guilty!"

"Who knows."

" _Oh my gosh!_ What if he hurts someone here?!"

"Oh no."

"But he just doesn't seem like the _type_ you know?!"

Finally, Levy snapped her book close, and stood, having had enough of her best friend's antics.

"Actually, I _don't_ know. And neither do you. The only one who does is him." Levy said sternly "Lu-chan, I love you, but please stop asking me these questions" and with that, the thoroughly annoyed girl stormed off to find a place to go read in peace.

Lucy stared after her, gaping for awhile, before it turned into a pout "How rude..." She muttered, crumpling up the bag her lunch was in, before standing herself to go and throw it out. As she reached the bin, it was then Lucy realized just how much water she had drank while ranting to her small BFF, and a pain in her lower abdomen told her _'too much'_.

The blonde cursed and took off for the nearest bathroom, which was inside the school building. She threw the doors open, and rushed to the toilets, but it was as she sat down, she realized she could hear the soft flow of keys from a piano through the tiled wall.

Lucy stood, a slight frown adorning her lips as she went to wash her hands. She knew all the classes were empty for lunch, so who could possibly be on the piano now?

She quickly dried her hands and exited the girls room, looking up and down the halls, and once she saw they were abandoned, she began walking slowly in the direction of the music room.

Never before had a single instrument inflicted such emotions in her. The notes were beautiful, and strong, and tinged with sadness, bitterness, and anger. It made her want to punch something and cry all at once, but she settled for clenched her fists tightly, stiffly making her way down the hall.

She took a deep breath as she rounded the corner, and the sound was louder than ever, gripping her heart in a vice. She licked her dry lips, and cursed her legs for feeling they were about to collapse from under her as she finally reached the door, and gripped the handle.

Lucy gasped as the bell sounded loudly overhead, making her jump back from the door as if it had burned her. Her eyes widened as apparently the person beyond the door had a similar reaction, and she heard something knock over.

The door was thrown open, but there was no one occupying it. The grand piano sat, without the player, it's velvet chair toppled over, and the window opened, letting light shine on the intimidating instrument.

The music room was completely abandoned... But who was playing such beautiful music?

* * *

Natsu arrived just in time for the crazy show, it seemed, as when he, Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal, neared the front gates of the campus, there were two girls already there, one much louder than the other, with distinctive blonde hair, and he just got in earshot when he heard her yell;

 _"Levy, it was a ghost I swear!"_

Oh man, this Luigi girl was such great fun.

"Excuse me, but I'm fairly certain ghosts are nonexistent." Jellal, ever the smarty-pants, decided to enter himself into the conversation.

The small blue-haired one shrank back as they approached, making Natsu raise a curious brow, but chose to ignore it for now, and stood towards the back, admiring the blonde from afar, awaiting to see what funny thing she'd say next.

"Then how would you explain the mysterious piano playing coming from the music room when no one was there?" The woman said haughtily, crossing her arms over her chest, and giving a determined glare.

Natsu visibly paled as she mentioned it, thinking only _'oh shit someone heard'_ and trying not to give himself away. It didn't help with the three guys in front of him stepping aside and looked right at him.

A few seconds passed as everyone stared at him, and Natsu felt a bead of sweat on his brow.

" _Wha_ -Wait why are you all looking at me?!" He yelled, taking a few steps back, and Gray just snorted in laughter.

"Yeah, first day of school and suddenly a ghost is playing the piano?" Jellal added, raising a brow suspiciously.

"Th-That is a huge accusation, I'll have you know, mister smart-ass!" Natsu retorted, crossing his arms and looking away nervously.

"Yeah, I doubt it was him too," The blonde said "He doesn't have the elegance to play a piano"

Natsu's brow twitched in anger, sure she was defending his (false) case, but she didn't have to say that... That was just rude, and uncalled for.

Before he knew it, he had moved so they were standing mere inches apart, and he was staring down into her wide, almost fearful, doe brown eyes. Man her eyes were expressive.

"'No elegance'," he quoted her, amused "You have no idea, blondie." Natsu noted the prominent blush now fanning out across her cheeks, trying her best to look mad, but only managed to screw up her face in a hilarious, kinda cute, way.

Natsu's mouth pulled back into a smug grin, revealing the pointed canines he had, before raising his hand, to push her lightly by her forehead as he walked past.

"And the name is Lucy!" He heard her call after him, and he laughed at the fact she would focus on his remembering her name than anything else he had said.

"Sure thing, Luigi." He said, enjoying the screech of aggravation he earned in response, which only made his grin grow. "Smart-ass, I'm walkin' home. I can't take another spin out in your shitty ass car."

Jellal made an attempt to call after him, but Natsu had just turned a sharp left, getting out of their eyesight. No way was he gonna be stuck with motion sickness and deal with the hell he would get by those three about not only him playing the piano, but how obscenely close he had gotten to the girl.

'Lucy' He had reminded himself, fondly. What an interesting, gutsy girl.

His fun ended all too soon as he stilled in front of a wall, which had graffiti all over it, of random things, tigers, snakes, words, you name it. But the thing that stuck out the most, and made his gut clench painfully inside him, was the sentence sprayed on in big, bold, red letters, almost the color of blood.

"The E.N.D. Is here."


	5. It's Instinct

Okay, so I ended up writing this chapter too, because Sky wasn't feeling it, so she's working on something for further into the story. In the meantime, enjoy the calm before the storm!

~Sir~

* * *

"I hate you." Was the last thing Natsu had said to Igneel, his adopted father.

Well, before he dropped him off in front of the building, which was now Natsu's personal hell. The dreaded high school. Every side glance was another judgement, every whisper another rumor. Shit, he thought living on the street was tough, but high schoolers were cutthroat. The thing with street rules was there were no rules. Someone sasses you and you have every right to stab them, long as you can evade the cops.

But any hint of violence from him, and Igneel would rain on him with the wrath of 1000 suns, and laugh maniacally while Natsu's flesh melted from his bones. Natsu had the most hardcore rehab.

"Fuck you too" was what Igneel said in return, before peeling out, leaving Natsu squinting as dust flew up in his face. Igneel was as eloquent as ever today, it seemed. Lovely.

Natsu hoisted his bag for his books of school nonsense over his shoulder, heading straight for class, only making a slight detour at the soda machine for his usual selection of drink; a Dr. Pepper.

A knock on the machine stirred him out of his own depressing thoughts, and he looked up to see Gajeel and… a girl with blue hair?

"What's happening right now?" he asked skeptically, as the woman's aqua eyes sparkled with awe, like Zeus himself had descended in front of her and asked if she wanted to take a joyride in his magic chariot.

"I know your memory is shit, so let me jog it for you-" Gajeel started but was cut off by the girl's loud, kind of stoic, voice.

"Juvia is indebted to you for sparing her life!" she all but yelled for the entire schoolyard to hear, making all nearby students stop and stare suspiciously.

Natsu had to stop himself from panicking like a frightened bird at her claims, but instead clamped his now-sweaty hand over her mouth.

"Dude, is subtly lost to you?!" he hissed between his fanged teeth, before dragging them both to a more secluded area, to try and register this more properly.

Once they all stopped, and no one was there to call the cops on him, Natsu examined this girl's (Juvia, he supposed, since she just announced it weirdly) face more carefully. But then it all came flooding back to him, his faint memory of his first meeting with Gajeel, dirty and beaten on the ground in front of him, feebly shielding a smaller, blue-haired woman behind him.

Natsu snapped his fingers at this revelation "you were with Gajeel!" he said, more with shock than anything. Was this a crazy coincidence? Or was there something here Natsu was unaware of…?

Gajeel apparently read Natsu's expression real well, and looked away almost guiltily "She… Just got released from juvie…" he explained "She didn't really have a place to go, so… I invited her to stay with me, and to go to this school…"

Natsu was now the one staring in awe, unable to believe the situation. He was the one making strides towards being a better person, and here Gajeel fucking was, letting people live with him and caring for someone.

The most Natsu had done as of late was heat up a microwaved burrito for Igneel, which even then, Igneel complained that he didn't heat it up enough. Natsu was really proving to be an upstanding citizen of society. Maybe when all his friends were actually having families, he could properly microwave a burrito. That seemed like a nice future.

A burrito future.

"Wow, okay… Yeah, just… Juvia, far as you're concerned, we haven't met until now. You know nothing about me, and vice versa." Natsu clarified, and headed back to the building, lest he be late for class, and get his ass handed to him by Igneel. Again.

"Sure thing, Natsu-san!" she yelled after him, making Natsu frown slightly

'-san…?'

* * *

"Dragneel, this is gym, not an emo fashion show. Change into your gym clothes." the coach barked, as Natsu stood stubbornly, clad in a lot of tight black clothes. Obviously not practical, but Natsu couldn't really give a shit.

"Just because I actually have a sense of style doesn't make me emo. And I refuse to wear those unholy catastrophes you call 'gym shorts'" Natsu said sharply, while the rest of the class watched uneasily. Including Natsu's new favorite thing; Lucy Heartfilia. But sadly, also Juvia Locksar.

"NATSU-SAN DOESN'T NEED PROPER CLOTHING TO-" She tried to interject and be helpful, but Natsu quickly pinched her arm in a "shut your loud blue head" way. Maybe she would learn from him on how to be subtle.

The coach quirked his very bushy brows up, making it look like two caterpillars who were gonna duke it out. But Natsu stopped his train of thought soon after he had it, wondering why he had it in the first place. Maybe Igneel should get him a therapist.

"So, the pinkie thinks he's too hot to trot huh?" he bellowed, stepping forward, in a challenging way.

Natsu only grinned, looking casual about the situation "Well, you said it, not me."

This obviously didn't help the problem, and the gym teacher's face now looked like a very mad tomato.

"Okay, that's it. For today's lesson, we're playing dodgeball, and it's all of you against pinkie!" coach what's-his-name declared, half of the class cheering enthusiastically, and the other half, which included Lucy, Gray, Jellal, Gajeel, and Juvia, looked uneasy about the idea.

The kids Natsu didn't know probably just thought it was a bit harsh, but Gray was shrugging in defeat.

Natsu couldn't help but chuckle to himself as they dispersed into two groups (if you could call it that) and the stare off began. Mostly between coach know-it-all and Natsu, but it was just as intense, since the dude looked like his face would explode into ketchup at any moment.

After Team Coach all had balls in their hands, the coach raised his fist like he was leading an army into battle.

"ATTACK!"

Natsu briefly thought how this guy should totally be fired before 5 balls came sailing his way in a cluster. He probably could have taken his tedious time and outed the 20 people across from him, but his instincts told him 'oust the leader and the army will fall'. His instincts forgot to warn him he was in a school, and that he will definitely get detention if he did that.

So, with all the intent of someone ready to kill, he ducked to the side to avoid the ball headed for his face, catching himself on the floor with his hand. His focus turned to the ball that was probably from a weak thrower, which was descending fast to hit his crouched form. So he kicked his feet off the ground, to perform a very hasty front handspring, and turned into a sort of front flip at the end.

His sharp, almost snake-like eyes scanned his surroundings as he was still in the air, and caught a ball in one hand. He was now equipped to destroy his opponent.

Ignoring the warning cries from his friends (Mostly Jellal), his feet hit the ground, and with a sharp 180 to build momentum and power into his throw, the ball was sailing across the room, straight for coach tomato-face.

All balls dropped, just like Natsu's own jaw. Igneel was going to kill him.

* * *

Lucy hadn't exactly been expecting this outcome, but she knew it wasn't going to be pretty despite the crazy odds. 1 minute of staring in shock, and the coach screaming curse words while saying his nose was broken, and then Natsu was gone.

She just barely caught his black-clad figure making a beeline for the doors. Everyone knew he was in big trouble. She knew Natsu knew too, but his expression said more than that, like he was even disappointed in himself. Her curiosity took over and she streaked after his retreating form, not paying attention to their surroundings as she did so.

It took her awhile to catch up to the point where she felt he would hear her and yelled out; "NATSU!" okay, make that screamed, but adrenaline did wonders to your yelling voice.

He slid to a halt, and Lucy fell to her face trying to mimic his actions.

"Why the fuck did you follow me?" He asked, voice cutting through the pounding in her ears, and he didn't even sound winded.

Lucy managed to sit up, and fanned her face. She prided herself on her athletic skills, so what the hell was that?!

"I… Just… Wanted to…" Lucy gasped, trying to fill her lungs again, before truly taking in her surroundings, and realization dawned on her. She had no clue where she was, and went as far as to voice this. "Where on earth are we…?"

Natsu seemed mildly shocked at this, but scoffed like she just asked if he liked the color black. "You moron." he said, not too kindly "Obviously, we're…" he faltered as he looked around, before awkward silence fell upon the pair.

"... You have no clue."

"Hey! I stopped paying attention after I realized I was being followed!" he snapped defensively

Lucy raised a challenging brow "Okay, say I was a murderer then, and you're able to escape. Why would being in unfamiliar territory help?"

More silence

"Well I wouldn't die."

"That wasn't the question."

"Shut up, your weirdness is rubbing off on me!"

Lucy rolled her eyes, and stood while dusting herself off. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm going to look up a map…" she paused as her hand went to her hip, where her phone would usually be pocketed. "My phone is in my other clothes." she said gravely, all while Natsu laughed at her, how nice of him.

"This is why you should just know your surroundings!" He said obviously

"But you're lost too!" she snapped "And it's because of your dumb mind not paying attention and running into oblivion that we're lost so you, mister lord of direction, are going to get me home!"

Natsu looked as if she had struck him across the face (she should know, she actually did that before) at her defiance, and it took him a good 30 seconds to straighten up and compose himself once more, and with an absent tug of the bottom of his vest, he started off in a direction.

"Fine." was all he said, probably not wanting to risk damaging his pride anymore, and Lucy followed behind him, smiling with pride at her ability to break the punk.

He wasn't as tough as he liked to make himself sound after all.

* * *

"Natsu, we're going in circles." Lucy groaned, eyeing the horizon as the sun started to disappear. Her dad was going to be none too happy to hear that she had spent these hours wandering dark alleys with a punk who had almost knocked out their coach with a dodgeball.

"Well, you knew I had no idea where we were, so why are you surprised now?" Natsu grumbled back, angrily messing up his already messy hair.

Lucy sighed heavily, and finally fell to the floor, her legs feeling too tired to continue, especially since they didn't even know where they were in the first place. It was pointless to waste the energy.

Natsu eyed her a bit, before falling to the floor next to her, leaning against the wall. He looked about to say something, but stopped when a loud gurgling sounded between them, which Lucy soon realized came from Natsu's stomach.

"Ha-" She almost started laughing, but then her stomach growled loudly too. They were both starving.

A few moments of silence rang between them, before they both started laughing at probably how hopeless they were, which was very. They were very hopeless.

"Can't we just like, order pizza?" Natsu asked as they stopped laughing, and Lucy rolled her eyes

"Idiot, you know we can't without-" She paused as Natsu brought out his very much working, touch screen smartphone. To order a pizza. "You had your phone with you this whole time?! We could've used the GPS to find our way home!"

Natsu looked both shocked and offended, holding the cell phone close to his chest "I-I don't even know what that is!" he defended "How can a cell phone help?!" he asked, genuinely confused by the idea, which made Lucy palm her face in frustration.

She snatched the phone from his hands, and jumped up and away so he couldn't get it back. The first thing she noticed was the lockscreen, it was a selfie of Natsu and his friends, Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal. They were sitting in a nearly all-white room, Jellal looking a bit nervous, and Natsu wearing the goofiest grin she'd ever seen, but it worked for him.

Lucy wasted no time in bringing up the GPS, and entering her address before she started on her way, vaguely aware of Natsu shouting after her, and jumping to his feet to follow her.

The walk was mostly silent, and by the time they had reached Lucy's street, it was already dark, the streetlights flickering on in their wake. Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin as the phone suddenly started vibrating profusely in her hands, and text after text flashed across the screen.

Natsu snatched the phone from her then, and visibly paled at the messages "Oh shit… Igneel's gonna double kill me…" he said almost helplessly, brows knit as he tried to figure out how to handle his impending doom.

In that moment Lucy actually felt her heart reach out to him. Despite his rudeness, and terrifying looks, he was still a kid with parent troubles. Everyone had those in the end.

With a sigh, Lucy turned to him fully "You can camp out on my couch for tonight, and give your dad some time to cool off." she offered, and the shock on Natsu's face made her smile to herself.

"Y-You would… Yes, thank you!" Natsu accepted happily, pocketing his phone, brightening up considerably at the thought of having some respite from his dad's wrath.

"Well, what are friends for?"

* * *

Natsu stared at his front door, feeling like there was a black hole in his stomach. He knew Igneel was probably pissed more than ever. But he couldn't avoid punishment forever, and Lucy was already kind enough to let him stay with her for the night.

He took a deep breath, before lightly rapping his fist on the door, and to his shock, it immediately opened, with Igneel looking down at him gravely.

"Dad, I-" he started nervously, but gasped when Igneel pulled him into a tight hug, reminding him of why he appreciated this crazy old man so much in the first place.

Natsu gripped the back of Igneel's shirt tightly, and muttered a muffled sorry into his chest.

"Stupid boy… I was worried about you…!"

He smiled a bit. He had been so unused to people worrying for him, and now he felt like a child again, crying because they missed their parent. But if it was only Igneel here, it was okay to let his guard down every now and then.


End file.
